Unscheduled C-Sections May Depend on the Color of Your Skin

Science Quickly

Scientific American

Science

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2024

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

Disparities in health are not indicated by adverse outcomes alone. Adriana Corredor-Waldron, an assistant professor of economics at NC State University, sought to understand why Black infants are more likely to be delivered by C-section than white infants. A working paper she co-authored found that the elevated number of low-risk Black pregnant people who were given C-section surgeries in New Jersey from 2008 to 2017 was likely caused by physician discretion. Corredor-Waldron explains why unnecessary C-sections can be risky and what medical education and financial incentives could do to close the gap. Recommended viewing: What Is Implicit Bias, and How Might It Affect Your Next Medical Visit? https://www.scientificamerican.com/video/what-is-implicit-bias-and-how-might-it-affect-your-next-medical-visit/ E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Adriana Corredor-Waldron Our show is edited by Jeff DelViscio with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:27.8	slash UK slash AI for people. Picture two pregnant people walking into the same hospital to give birth.
0:39.3	They have identical medical histories and have experienced identical pregnancies.
0:43.9	They're even seeing the same obstetrician.
0:46.5	The only difference between them is that one is black and the other is white.
0:50.6	According to a study of births in New Jersey hospitals,
0:53.2	the black patient would be about 20% more likely to get an unscheduled C-section than the white patient.
1:00.1	That number takes into account factors like differences in health status or access to good hospitals and doctors.
1:07.7	Without controlling for those variables, the number is even higher, with researchers finding that
1:12.8	black pregnant people are almost 25% more likely to get an unscheduled C-section than their
1:18.1	white peers. C-sections can, of course, save lives, but they also carry all the risks of a serious
1:24.2	surgery. So the idea that people might be pressured into having C-sections unnecessarily is troubling enough.
1:30.7	The fact that this seems to happen disproportionately
1:33.0	to black people is even more disturbing.
1:35.5	For Scientific American Science quickly,
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